File 074 · 1983–1986
Hudson Valley boomerang
Hudson Valley, New York, United States · Region, not street
Opened 9/4/2026
Ledger illustration of the file — not a photograph of the object. Ledger illustration of the report. A river-valley night in the northeast. — Night Ledger illustration of the file
Standing
Unidentified
On the public record, and still open. A claim, paper, or film — not a finding that it was ours, and not a finding that it was not.
What was claimed
Thousands along the Hudson reported a silent, V-shaped “flying city” of lights, low enough to hide the stars behind it. Some nights it was a prank of ultralights. Some nights it was not so easy.
What is on the record
This file is a working record — a report, not a verdict. Official paper, if any, is linked where we have it.
From 1983 to 1986 the towns from Yorktown to Newburgh generated one of the largest report loads in American files. Witnesses described a huge boomerang or triangle, often with multi-colored lights, drifting at a few hundred feet, sometimes stopping over a parkway. Police officers filed reports. J. Allen Hynek’s colleagues at CUFOS investigated.
A group of pilots flying ultralights in formation later claimed some of the displays. They do not claim all of them, and they do not claim the nights when a solid dark form blocked the sky. Stormville Airport radar was occasionally involved.
The Hudson Valley file is a mass of letters, 911 calls, and police logs. It is also a warning about how a clever prank and an unidentified craft can occupy the same county in the same decade.
Could this have been ours?
The known sky, that night.
Satellites were already up. The station was not. Starlink was not.
Always
Aircraft, balloons, meteors
Landing lights, flares, lanterns, reentries, fireballs. They are on the known sky. They do not close a file by themselves — they are what a serious look has to hold the claim against.
Orbit · Space — the desks for lights that are already named.
Sources
Related files
Same craft, same place, same years. A neighbor in the catalogue — not a conclusion.
Same craft · Same country · 4 September 2026, evening
Three triangles and jets, Caribou County
Bench, Caribou County, Idaho · United States
Unidentified
Two witnesses near Bench described three triangular objects making U-turns as military jets were heard in the same sky.
Same craft · Same country · 13 August 2026
Black triangle over La Conner
La Conner, Washington · United States
Unidentified
Two people walking near the water described a silent black triangle with red lights at each corner, held for about ten minutes.
Same craft · Same country · 5 January 2000
Highland police triangle
Highland, Illinois · United States
Unidentified
Five police officers in separate towns tracked a huge, silent triangle across southwestern Illinois for more than an hour.
Same craft · Same country · 13 March 1997
Phoenix Lights
Phoenix, Arizona · United States
Unidentified
Thousands watched a mile-wide V of lights drift over Arizona, then a second set of flares over the Estrella Mountains. The governor later said he saw it too.
Same craft · September 4, 2026, evening
Multi-colored triangular UAPs performing impossible maneuvers with military jets
Bench, Idaho (Caribou County) · USA
Unidentified
Two witnesses, one a former soldier, observed three triangular multi-colored UAPs making multiple U-turns and physically impossible maneuvers. Military jets were heard chasing or responding to the objects. First-person NUFORC report.
Same craft · August 23, 2026, ~10:01 PM BST
Triangular Formation of Three Lights over Wolverhampton, UK
Wolverhampton, West Midlands · UK
Unidentified
Two witnesses (mother and son) observed three points of light in a triangular formation moving slowly and smoothly across the western sky while maintaining relative positions. The mother began recording video shortly after noticing them.